An Investigation on Painting and Imagery in Zen

This research considers painting and imagery in Zen as an art and its objective is to introduce the influence of Zen on visual arts. The term “Zen” is derived from Sanskrit and it means “thinking”. In China and India, Zen Buddhism is known as “Liberated Way of Life” and is strongly influenced by Taoism. It is said that Zen began with an allusion, as one day, instead of preaching, Buddha appeared with a flower in his hand when one of his followers received his speechless message. That was when Zen, with its Indian Dhyāna root meaning meditation, was born.The research method here is descriptive and analytical with emphasis on inductive approach (checking samples and providing theory).The resulted process concludes that Zen imagery includes seven principles: asymmetry, purity, stamina, naturalness, deepness, richness and quietism, however; peace or quietism is the concept taken into consideration more than other ones.